Hoover council appoints Casey Middlebrooks to fill Brian Skelton's seat on council
The Hoover City Council tonight appointed Ross Bridge resident Casey Middlebrooks to fill the final two months of former Councilman Brian Skelton’s term on the council.
Skelton’s seat — Council Place 6 — has remained vacant since he died on July 2, and Middlebrooks, a librarian at Spain Park High School, won the Aug. 23 election to fill that seat for the next four years.
Current council members said they thought it best to go ahead and appoint Middlebrooks to finish Skelton’s term, so Hoover Municipal Judge Brad Bishop tonight swore Middlebrooks into office, and he took a seat beside other council members and began serving.
He will be sworn in again for the new term with the rest of the new City Council on Nov. 7.
Middlebrooks tonight thanked all the people who supported his campaign and said he is ready to get to work in moving Hoover forward.
One of the first votes he took was joining other council members in approving an $882,026 contract with Wiregrass Construction for a project to improve Old Columbiana Road and Deo Dara Drive.
Tim Westhoven, the city’s assistant executive director, said Wiregrass Construction will widen Old Columbiana Road to make it the standard road size, add curbs and gutters and build a sidewalk to connect the sidewalk along Deo Dara Drive with a sidewalk on Patton Chapel Road.
In other business tonight, the council:
- Gave approval for SkyZone Sports Kennesaw to open a trampoline park in the former Staples store in The Centre at Riverchase shopping center at 1694 Montgomery Highway, across from the Hoover Municipal Center.
- Gave approval for a road to be built through Lot 7 of International Park off Acton Road to provide access to a public park being built by the city of Vestavia Hills.
- Declared a confiscated trailer and 13 Police Department vehicles as surplus to be sold. The trailer will be sold at auction, and nine Chevrolet Tahoes, three Chevrolet Impalas and a Ford F-150 pickup truck will be sold to other law enforcement agencies, Chief Nick Derzis said.
- Declared property at 2308 Empire Road to be a public nuisance due to high weeds and/or grass.